In a Galaxy Far, Far, FAR Away
by K2JC
Summary: The Galaxy is vast. The Universe even more so. A different Universe? Now that's just crazy talk, right? Jane's new recruits beg to differ. One of them can even conjure lightning from their fingers. Like a wizard, except in space. Now if only they let her handle one of them neat blasters and laser swords. Oh, imagine the damage she could do to the Collectors with those things.
1. In a Galaxy Far, Far, FAR Away

**_A/N: This story just got a reboot as will some of my other stories. One of them would be The Three Wanderers. Reason? Simple. I didn't like it so I wanna change._**

"Oh, bloody hell."

Lia kept a blank expression as the platoon of Battle Droids aimed their blasters at her. The Jedi was currently in a Separatist base and was on a mission to gather intel on the CIS presence in the planet. The mission was simple. Gather intel from a safe distance then get out. Simple plan, right? Well, it was until a High Value Target was rumored to be inside the base. Jedi General Lia-nara Chaise and Kale Banal volunteered to infiltrate the base and confirm the Target's identification and, if possible, eliminate them. They spotted the Target moving to the Command Center. Unfortunately, it was a trap.

The Target turned out to be a fake. A double. The real one was off-planet days ago. Now, here she was. Held at blasterpoint by Battle Droids. Where was Kale you ask? Inside the vents above her, Kale was looking down at Lia's predicament through the grating, trying to think of a way out of the mess she was in. The dirty blonde hummed in thought before his eyes widened in realization. He reached under his cloak to his belt and took out an EMP grenade or a 'Droid Popper' as the boys called it.

Kale Force Pushed the grating and dropped the EMP. The Battle Droids looked at the grenade in confusion before the device activated and shut down the entirety of the droids, and electronics, in the room. Kale dropped down the vents and brushed the dust off his shoulder before giving an unamused Lia a smirk.

"Did I miss anything?"

The Jedi rolled her eyes before walking out, bumping the Mercenary's shoulder on the way. Kale watched her go before laughing to himself and followed after her. Women. So hard to please but if it's her? It was worth it.

~Line Break~

Lia crossed her arms as she waited for the elevator to arrive. Behind her, a dozen Battle Droids lay dead on the ground. All of them were cut in two. She heard a whistle behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Kale navigate through the bits and pieces of Battle Droids. He stood beside her and the two waited patiently for the lift.

"So... is it the time of the month already?"

The elevator, carrying four B1s that were flanked by two SBDs, reached the top floor and waited for the lift's doors to open. As soon as it did, a body crashed towards the group of droids. The B1s fell to the ground as Kale's body smacked into them while the two Super Battle Droids looked down in confusion. The one on the left was suddenly lifted in the air and was smashed to the one on the right before it was bisected vertically. The remaining SBD tried to stand up but was quickly impaled.

Lia huffed as she pulled her lightsaber free from the large droid before looking down at Kale. The man rose to his feet before pulling out two DC-17 hand blasters and fired directly into the downed droids heads. Giving the Jedi a look, Kale spun the blasters in his hands before holstering them "Geez. Can't take a joke?"

"Whatever."

Lia walked past him and entered the elevator. Kale sighed before following after her. The Jedi pressed the button for the lift to go to the Ground Floor before contacting their Laarti.

"Burnside, come in. The target was a double and the whole base is probably know where we are by now so extraction in the base is a no-go. We can't risk our only transport off this rock. We'll have to find our own way out and rendezvous from a safe distance. We'll signal you when we're clear. Chaise, out."

Kale bent down and took one of the B1s E-5 Blaster Rifle. He inspected the weapon before nodding to himself and turned to Lia "So how the hell are we gonna get outta this mess?"

"I saw a couple of speeders nearby. That's our ticket off this place but we'll have to fight our way to it."

"And probably fight our way out too, right?"

"Yup."

"...okay."

~Line Break~

CC-2868, or Will, shook his head before calling Burnside. He was currently inside a LAAT with two other Clones and the Pilots. They attached two Z-6 Rotary Cannons inside of the gunship, one for each door. They were currently circling the base from a safe distance after General Lia told them that the base was on alert and extracting them in the middle of it was too big of a risk.

"Burnside... Fuck it. Take us to the base."

"Uh, sir? The General said to rendezvous with them when they're clear."

"I know what she said but take us to the base. We'll provide covering fire for their escape. Just do it, Burnside."

The pilot remained silent but did as he was told and redirected to the Separatist Base. Will stared at the base in the distance before manning the mounted Z-6 on the right of the gunship.

"What the hell did I just do?"

~Line Break~

Kale vaulted over a crate and took cover behind it. Lia soon joined him. Lightsaber activated on one hand and a DL-44 with a smoking barrel on the other. Kale blind fired from their cover and managed to take out two B1s but more were slowly advancing and weren't letting up in their barrage of red blaster bolts.

"Damn it." He cursed before turning to Lia "If we make a run for the speeders, we'll never make it."

"I know." Lia replied through gritted teeth. She peeked on the side of their cover and saw a squad of SBDs exiting a building before she was grabbed by her cowl and pulled back to avoid a blaster bolt meant for her eye.

"What now, Lia?"

Above them, a Vulture Droid was about to swoop down and fire it's weapons at them only for a barrage of blue blaster bolts strike it from behind and forced it to crash near the two. Kale and Lia looked up to see Burnside's LAAT make a pass, the mounted Z-6s tearing apart the droids that was closing in on them. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Lia called Burnside through the comms.

"Burnside, I thought I told you to wait for us from a safe distance."

"Sorry, ma'am. Change of plans. We'll provide cover fire while you get out of here. Commander Will's orders, ma'am. Sorry."

Kale chuckled at that "Insubordination... Never knew he had it in him."

"Kale, the speeders. Now's our chance!"

"Right."

The two dashed and made a beeline towards the STAPs, using the Force to enhance their speed. Kale hopped on the closest one before a B1 could climb up the speeder while Lia kicked off the other speeder's driver. Together, they made their way to the main entrance of the base. Unfortunately, a row of Droidekas stood between them and the gate.

"Damn it. We won't get past that without getting killed."

"Don't worry, Boss. We got you're back."

The Laarti flew over their heads and fired four missiles from it's two mass-driver missile launchers. The rockets hit their mark and scrapped the Droidekas, clearing the way for Kale and Lia to escape. Just as they grew closer to the exit, a AAT came into view and aimed it's main gun at them. Kale swerved to the left but Lia leapt off her speeder just as the tank fired a round that destroyed her STAP. The Jedi landed in front of the AAT and dashed towards the vehicle before jumping on top of the tank's turret, right where the hatch was.

"Lia!"

The Jedi looked towards Kale's voice and saw him throw something at her. She caught the device and looked at it to see a Thermal Imploder. She gave him a two-finger salute before opening the hatch and dropping the primed grenade inside. Lia closed the hatch and jumped off the tank, not bothering to look over her shoulder to see the tank get destroyed from the inside.

Meanwhile, Kale was looking for another way out. He had taken out any Battle Droid that he passed by but there was still the risk of getting shot. STAPs didn't provide much protection for the driver. The mercenary cursed when he realized all the exits where sealed off and the whole base was on high alert. He looked up to see that the Separatists were prepping up AA turrets from the roofs of the buildings.

"Fuck." He cursed before contacting the LAAT "Burnside, you and the boys better get outta here now. They're setting up AA turrets on the roofs."

"Boss, we can get both of you out. Just get to Command Center's roof. We'll extract you from there."

"I'll try. Got any visual on Lia?"

"Hang on... I see her. She's running towards you, Boss."

"Thanks."

Kale sailed past the heads of a squad of B1s before seeing Lia dashing towards him. He slowed a bit and the Jedi jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his waist as they made their way back to the Command Center.

"Kale, where are we going?"

"Back to the CC. All exits have been sealed off. Burnside's gonna make a hot extraction on the roof."

Just as he finished, the two reached the entrance and ditched the speeder. They made a beeline towards the elevator, using the Force to push back the droids that were blocking their path. They let out a breath as the doors closed and the lift started to move up. Kale looked down at the E-5 blaster in his hand and dropped it. That thing wasn't meant to be fired rapidly if handled by organics. Damn thing exerts so much heat, it could melt off your hands if you held it for too long. No wonder droids use it so much. He shook his head before looking at Lia, who was breathing heavily.

"Hell of a mission, huh? To think, this was supposed to be a stealth op. At least things can't get any worse, right?"

Lia moved to speak but felt something shift in the Force. She looked up at Kale, a worried expression adorning her features "I have a bad feeling about this."

Silence fell between them as they waited for the elevator to reach the top floor. Just as they were about to, the lift stopped and they felt the whole building shake. Struggling to right himself, he called the LAAT.

"Burnside, what the hell is going on out there!?"

"Buil... nstable... trical field... round the CC... rea too- "

"Damn it." Kale cursed before looking at Lia "Comms are down."

"Looks like the elevator is too." Lia added as the white lights were replaced by red emergency lights. Activating her lightsaber, she had Kale boost her up and she cut a hole on the lift's ceiling. She pushed the cutout section and jumped up the hole. She saw that the elevator stopped just before the roof and Lia quickly cut a hole through the doors.

Behind her, Kale jumped through the hole as well and joined her. Once a big enough hole was made, they moved through it and saw what caused the violent shaking and electrical interference. The whole Command Center was surrounded by a dome of electricity. They saw Burnside's Laarti behind the dome before another violent earthquake hit them. Kale moved towards Lia but before he could, there was a blinding flash of light then darkness.

~Line Break~

Will groaned as he pushed the clone on top of him off his body. After the dome 'exploded', for a lack of better term, it let out an EMP effect and shut down anything electronic inside the base. Burnside managed to steer the gunship outside the base but that didn't mean their landing was soft, however. Sitting up, Will tried to call Burnside from his comms but the blasted thing won't work.

"Stupid piece of- "

He was cut off when the other two clones with him started to come to. Standing up, the Clone Commander helped his brothers to their feet before getting out of the gunship. He observed their surroundings and saw they were within walking distance from the base but he felt worry when he saw the black smoke coming from the place.

"Sir."

He turned to the speaker, Holt, as the clone helped Burnside walk over to him. The pilot had his arm over Holt's shoulder and the Clone Commander could see Burnside's limp.

"Anything else broken, Burns?"

"Other than my ankle, nothing sir. Can't say the same for Zip."

"What happened?"

Burnside shook his head with a sigh "Broke his neck on the crash."

"Damn it." Will cursed before looking back at the base.

"What do we do now, sir?" The last clone, Mac, asked as he retrieved their weapons.

"The only thing we can do. Search the base for any sign of the General and Kale. The dome let out an EMP by the look of things but stay sharp. There could still be more droids on standby. Burns, stay here and try to get in contact with the 'Revengeance'."

As the other three left for the base, Burnside sighed and sat down next to the downed Laarti "Sure, leave me alone in the middle of the night where there could be dangerous predators waiting to kill me. Whatever you say, Commander. This is just fucking great."

~Line Break~

Lia groaned as she opened her eyes only to close them as someone shone a bright light over her eyes. She slowly tried to sit up and felt two sets of hands steady her. She can vaguely hear their voices. One talked too fast in a language she hadn't heard before. The other, however, spoke clear Basic. Shaking her head, she finally started to get a clear view of her surroundings... until her body decided to dump all the contents of her stomach to the poor floor.

'Oh, Force. What did I eat?'

She felt a hand gently rub her back while someone handed her a bucket. She threw up a second time before her body decided it was bored of torturing her. She heard another voice, speaking Basic as well.

"I thought the plague didn't affect humans?"

'Plague? How the bloody hell did I get the plague?'

The one speaking too fast replied and the one talking Basic sighed "I think this lady here begs to differ."

"I'd appreciate it if someone tell me what the bloody hell is going on, please." Lia felt her stomach churn again and held up a finger "On second thought... "

'My stomach hates me.'

~Line Break~

Commander Jane Shepard kept the woman's hair back as she threw up for the third time. Good news, they found Mordin. Bad news, looks like the plague was starting to hit humans too. Sighing, she turned to the Salarian "Are you sure the plague didn't cause this?"

"Yes. Most definitely. No other humans affected by plague."

"If you're sure. Anyway, I'm Commander Shepard and I came here to find you. I'm on a critical mission and I need your help."

"Mission? What mission?" The Salarian shook his head "No. Too busy. Clinic understaffed. Plague spreading too fast. Who sent you?"

'Oh boy. Let's see if he'll buy this.'

Jane walked over to the Salarian as he ducked behind a table to do... something.

"It's a covert and privately funded human group."

The Commander nearly jumped back when Mordin popped up from behind the table. Geez, dude. A little warning would be nice.

"Related to plague? Doesn't affect humans. Human-centric interest. Few human groups would know me." Mordin turned away from her as he began to put the pieces of the puzzle in place "Equipment suggests military origin. Not Alliance standard. Spectres not human. Terra Firma too unstable. Only one option."

He looked at Shepard and the Commander just knew what would come next.

"Cerberus sent you. Unexpected."

'Not enough for you, it seems.'

"You're very well-informed. How did a Salarian scientist hear about Cerberus?"

"Crossed paths on occasion. Thought they only work with humans."

"Okay. Now that my stomach doesn't feel like torturing me anymore."

The two turned their attention to the woman from before. She had placed the bucket down and stood up from the bed. Making Shepard actually observe the odd way the woman looked. Black hair with blue tips tied in a messy, half up tail with bangs. She wore a long, white cowl over a black crop top muscle tee, revealing a well toned abdomen. A white pauldron with black markings and showed signs of abuse. A blue crystal tied around her neck and a tattoo of unknown significance on the center of her chest. Matching bracers and black fingerless gloves. She had two, symmetrical capes attached to her belt that reached her calf. Black tights with white knee pads, greaves and boots. She also saw a small pouch tied to her left arm. The significance of it, Jane didn't know. The Commander looked at the woman in the eyes and a pair of cyan blue orbs met her own emerald green ones.

"Mind telling me what's happening, luv?"

"That depends." Shepard challenged "Mind telling me your name first?"

The woman crossed her arms as she and Shepard mirrored her, the two staring each other down. Mordin looked between the two as neither one wanted to back down. Shrugging, he went to check on the status of the other patients. No time for distractions. Other patients need treatment.

After what seemed like hours which was actually a minute, the woman sighed "How about this? I say my name, you say yours. Fair deal, yeah?"

"Yeah. Fair deal."

"Alright, my name's Lia-nara Chaise. A pleasure, luv." The woman, Lia-nara, began before holding out her hand.

"Commander Jane Shepard. 'Sup."

"So, Commander. What's this plague I keep hearing about?"

"Like the name says, it's a plague but it seems humans and Vorcha are immune to it. Turian, Batarian, Asari, you name it, they got it. And they're all blaming humans as the one who started it. How come you don't know any of this?"

"I don't know." Lia replied with a shrug "All I remember is waking up and throwing up everything I ate for the last 24 hours. Bloody hell, I didn't even understand a word that alien said."

"Believe me. I have a hard time keeping track of him."

"So you understand a word he said. Brilliant. I could use your help in translating his language."

Jane raised an eyebrow in confusion "Is your translator busted or something?"

"I don't have a translator."

That simple statement made the Commander wonder what happened to this woman. All she remembered was waking up. No translator equals no Omni-tool. Her eyes then travelled down to the holstered pistol strapped to her thigh and the cylindrical device on her belt.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Nope." Lia replied with a shake of her head "Last I remember was my partner and I getting forced to our knees by an earthquake before a bright flash of light blinded me. Next thing I know, I wake up here. Wherever this is."

"Does the words Systems Alliance, Citadel Council, Terminus System or Reapers mean anything to you?"

"Hmm. Systems Alliance, Citadel Council, Terminus System. Sorry, luv. Doesn't ring a bell."

'Okay. This is getting weird.' Jane thought before asking "Where were you born?"

"I don't remember where I was born and I never bothered to find out but I was raised in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant." Lia hummed as she brought a hand to her chin "Forgive me, Shepard, but I find the situation I'm in very peculiar. Asari, Batarians, Turians. I haven't heard any of these species. Can you at least tell me where I am?"

Jane sighed before clearing her throat and looking Lia right in the eyes "You're inside Mordin Solus' clinic in the space station, Omega."

"Damn." Lia cursed "Still doesn't ring a bell."

"Well, as much as I like to help you with your crisis, I still need to convince Mordin to come with me. See ya."

Jane gave the woman a wave before leaving the room to find Mordin. The Salarian was talking to one of his staff before Shepard decided to get his attention "Doctor Mor- "

"Professor."

"Uh, right. Professor Mordin. I really need your help on this mission. The Collectors need to be stopped."

Mordin paused for a second before turning to Shepard, crossing his arms as he thought something over "Collectors? Interesting. Plague hitting these slums is engineered. Collectors one of few groups with technology to design it. Our goals may be similar."

'Yes! Now we're getting somewhere.' Jane thought with a smile as she nodded.

"But must stop plague first. Already have a cure. Need to distribute it to environmental control center. Vorcha guarding it. Need to kill them." Mordin walked over to a console and began typing.

'Okay. Kill some Vorcha. Administer the cure. Somehow. Recruit the Professor. Easy enough.'

"I'll get in and take out the Vorcha."

Before the Salarian could reply, the lights around them turned red and the vents sealed off. Mordin quickly loomed to his Omni-tool "Vorcha have shut down environmental systems. Trying to kill everyone. Need to get power back on before district suffocates. Here. Take plague cure."

Jane took the offered cure and raised an eyebrow when the Professor handed her a gun, M-6 Carnifex Hand Cannon.

"Added bonus. Taken from dead Blue Suns merc. Could come in handy in the future."

"Excuse me, Professor."

Mordin turned around only to feel two hands place themselves on his temple. As quick as it came, it was gone. Jane looked to the owner of said hands and saw Lia-nara pull back from the Salarian. The woman hummed before nodding to herself.

"I think I can understand you now, Professor."

"Understand? No translator needed. Understand what I'm saying?"

"Yup."

'Wait... what just happened?' Jane shook her head and raised her hand "Woah. Woah. Woah. Hold the phone."

Lia-nara rose an eyebrow at that but Jane ignored her "How come you understand him without a translator on you?"

"I'm a Jedi, luv." Lia-nara replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy "The Force grants me the ability to comprehend a being's spoken language. The downside? I can't speak the language but I can understand it. A bit."

"Hmm. Fascinating. A new ability for biotics? No. No mention of biotics. Force? What force? What is Jedi?" Mordin shook his head before facing Shepard "No. Can't afford any further distractions. Shepard. Must get cure before district suffocates. Oh, also need help finding assistant, Daniel. Went out to retrieve supplies. Hasn't come back yet."

"Alright, I'll see if I can find him along the way. Oh, and there's a Batarian out there that needs help. I promised him I'll get help when I get here."

"Thank you, Shepard. I'll see what I can do about Batarian. Hurry. Time is of the essence."

~Line Break~

Lia-nara watched the red haired woman go before looking at the Professor, who went to check on the rest of his patients.

'Hmm. This plague is a serious problem. As much as I want to find Kale, I'll have to help these people first.'

With that in mind the Jedi quietly slipped away and trailed after Commander Shepard. She kept her distance. Hiding in the shadows and out of sight. Of course there was the problem of some mercenaries and looters trying to gun her down then rob her when she accidentally slipped on a puddle, of all things. Fortunately for her, they were taken care of accordingly. And by that I mean, they're dead. As Kale would say: It was self-defense.

'I would've been kicked out of the Order if the masters heard me say that. Damn. Kale is rubbing off on me.'

Reloading the weapon she'd taken from one of the mercs, she went back to following Shepard. Speaking of Kale, she wondered where the man could be. She turned around and roundhouse kicked a Vorcha sneaking up on her. The alien staggered back before receiving a powerful kick to the chest that sent it flying to a wall. Lia-nara huffed before leaving. A few minutes of searching later, she found the Commander who was flanked by a dark-skinned man in armor and a beautiful, black haired woman. The three of them walked towards a room and watched as the doors slid open.

Inside, Lia-nara could see three four-eyed beings and one human male. One of the four-eyed beings held the human by the collar while the other two had their guns pointed at him. She didn't need empathy to know that the man was scared. Lia-nara was about to approach Shepard and her team when a familiar voice spoke out.

"You know, it's not nice to manhandle the guy who's trying to help cure this plague."

Everyone turned to the voice as Kale dropped down from... somewhere and landed a few feet from the beings, making anyone with a gun aim their weapons at him. The dirty blonde stopped as he noticed all the guns pointing at him and raised his hands.

"I surrender."

If Shepard hadn't noticed her presence before, she did now. The resounding slap from Lia-nara's facepalm caused everyone to stare in the shadows. Sighing, the Jedi stepped out from her hiding spot and put on a nonchalant facade. She gave the Commander an easygoing smile and a lazy wave.

"Hello there."

~Line Break~

Kale felt himself smirk as he saw Lia approach them. Lowering his hands, he slowly hovered them over his blasters. If things looked like it would end in a fight, he'll draw first blood. Figuratively speaking, of course. A blaster bolt would cauterize the wound before it could even bleed. He then noticed the redhead decided to play the mediator.

"Nobody needs to die. I know you're scared. Of the Vorcha. Of the plague. But this man isn't to blame." Kale spotted the redhead's finger leaving the trigger yet still kept her weapon pointed at the Batarian "If he was spreading the virus, why would he go to Vorcha territory? They're immune."

One of the Batarians turned to the one holding the human at gunpoint "She's right. It doesn't make any sense."

"If we release the prisoner, can we go?"

"You have my word." The redhead lowered her gun and motioned for her companions as well, though he realized they were a bit reluctant to do so. The Batarian lowered their guns before asking to leave. The redhead let them go before walking over to the hostage. Kale felt something in the force before facing to his right just in time to receive a slap to the cheek. Kale blinked before looking at Lia wide eyed.

"The hell was that for?"

"Do you realize what could've happened when you jumped out of nowhere?"

"I don't know. A shootout?"

"Yes. A shootout." Kale wondered if her teeth hurt from all that gritting "And Mr. Daniel over there could've been caught in the cross fire."

"Oh." The man shrugged before raising an eyebrow "But did he die?"

"He could've." Lia argued. She was so close to strangling him right now that it was slightly turning him on. Woah, was he into that stuff now?

"But did he?"

"Ugh. Why do I even bother?" The Jedi shook her head before crossing her arms "Where have you been?"

"Funny story about that." Kale chuckled as he recalled what happened after the light show on the Seppie base "Well, you see. I woke up on this club, Afterlife. Weird name, I know. Anyway, I got woke up by one of those four-eyes trying to rob me and well... "

Lia narrowed her eyes as Kale looked away while rubbing the back of his neck. She was so not gonna like what he was about to say.

"Kale, what did you do?"

The man gently held her forearm and led her away from the redhead's group. He let out a breath and gave her his best 'I'm-a-sorry-but-at-the-same-time-I'm-not' look.

"I may have Mind Probed him and stole his Omni-tool, weapons and translator... yeah."

"You what!?" The Jedi silently screamed "Why the bloody hell would you do that?"

"He was robbing me." Kale argued back "Besides, I got a lotta information from the guy's head and believe me, I did the galaxy a favor in getting rid of his ass."

"You are impossible... What information did you get?"

"It's all so... random. It's a bit hard to explain so why don't you look through my mind."

Lia looked to the redhead and saw that she was still conversing with the former hostage before nodding "Let me in."

Kale nodded before closing his eyes and let her in. He felt the gentle prodding while Lia unknowingly scrunched her face as she shifted through his recent memories. A few moments later and the Jedi opened her eyes before their gazes met. Kale chuckled when he heard Lia's voice in his head utter one word.

'Fuck.'


	2. In a Galaxy Far, Far, FAR Away Ch 2

Jane watched Daniel go before turning to find Lia-nara talking to the newcomer. The man was tall, at least 6'1. A head of shaggy, dirty blonde hair that reached just below his neck. A rugged face that was marred by three scars that ran down his left eye. He wore a long, brown coat with a hood that had the left sleeve torn off, revealing a white gauntlet with black designs. The left side of the coat itself was separated into straps. Underneath the coat was a white chest piece with black designs and a bandolier holding a knife. The man wore slightly baggy black pants and a pair of white boots and greaves covered with dirt. Jane also noticed the holsters on his belt, hidden under the coat and holding two pistols she had never seen before.

The Commander's observation was cut off when Lia-nara punched the man in the gut hard enough for him to keel over. Jane didn't know what to expect from the woman. She looked experienced. The casualness was a facade, at least part of it was. Shepard had a sixth sense for people who wanted to backstab or kill her. She didn't feel that from Lia-nara but then again she didn't know her that long to be sure. Plus, she just punched a man in a gut so... Jane sighed before walking over to the two just as the newcomer straightened himself. The Commander went to address Lia-nara first.

"So... are you gonna tell me why you were following me and who, I'm assuming, your friend here is?"

Before Lia-nara could speak, the newcomer beat her to it "Good question, red."

'Red? How original.'

"Why did you follow her, Lia? It's not like you to stalk someone in questionably lit hallways."

"Who the hell are you?" No use beating around the bush.

The newcomer cleared his throat and straightened his attire "Well, ma'am. If you must know, the name's Kale. At your service, Red."

Kale held out his hand but Jane simply crossed her arms and raised a brow at the gesture. The man sighed and retreated his hand "Geez. Tough crowd."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me that. But that's one question answered." Shepard then turned her gaze to Lia-nara "So what's your reason for stalking me and my team?"

"I was not stalk- " Lia-nara stopped mid-yell before composing herself "I assure you, Ms. Shepard, that I was not 'stalking' you, per say." What is it with people and air quotes? "I was simply following the carnage in hopes of finding you and helping you cure this dreaded plague."

"I commend you for trying to help but I can't get a civilian involved in this."

Shepard barely had time to react when the woman, faster than the eye could see, unholstered an M-6 Carnifex and fired. The grain-sized bullet zipped past Jane's head and struck something behind her. Kale suddenly ran past her, becoming nothing more than a brown blur. Jane turned around and raised her M-8 Avenger to see a group of Blood Pack Troopers taking cover. One of them was screaming it's lungs out as it held a hand to it's bleeding eye. How did it not die yet, she didn't know.

Jane and her squad took cover as well and opened fire on the Blood Pack. Lia-nara joined her behind a pillar and took potshots at the Vorcha. She managed to hit a few of them but they recovered and retuned fire. Shepard had Jacob biotically pull one of the Vorcha and the group lit him up, putting nearly a hundred holes in it's body before it died. Lia-nara fired her lost shot before reloading, cursing the fact that she had to reload every sixth shot.

"Bloody hell."

Unbeknownst to them, Kale had ran behind enemy lines and was patiently waiting in the shadows. The mercenary kept silent as he used the Force to cloak his presence from the Vorcha. Kale pulled out his Vibroknife and activated it. The weapon buzzed and the blade glowed ember-hot in Kale's hands. Hidden in the shadows, he pulled one of the Vorcha with the Force and plunged the blade right between it's eyes before dropping the body and throwing the Vibroknife at a second Vorcha. The blade found itself buried on the Vorcha's right eye, causing the Blood Pack Trooper to fall to it's knees before falling dead on it's back.

The other Blood Pack Troopers noticed his presence and aimed their weapons at him, only for one of them suddenly have it's head blown off. Two more unfortunate Blood Pack Troopers met the same, grizzly fate before the remaining Vorcha scattered to whatever hole they came from. Kale looked towards Shepard's group and gave them a two-finger salute. Speaking of Shepard, said redhead had a smirk on her face before lowering and loading a new thermal clip to her M-96 Mantis Sniper Rifle. She breathed in the smoke coming from the barrel and sighed happily.

"Damn, I'm good."

Lia-nara smirked as she crossed her arms. She couldn't argue with that. From what she's seen, Shepard was someone with a levelled head when needed and one with great marksmanship as well, if those Vorcha had anything to say about it. Well, they won't really be saying anything cause, you know, they're dead. The Jedi watched Kale pull the Vibroknife free from the dead Vorcha and deactivated it before balancing the tip of the blade in his palm. Her gaze set on the two Vorcha's lifeless eyes, eye in the case of the second one, and sneered in disgust. Honestly, can he be anymore barbaric?

"I'm starting to wonder why I even gave you that Vibroknife in the first place."

"Was it my ruggedly handsome looks? Marksmanship?" Kale sheathed the Vibroknife before wiggling his eyebrows suggestively "My 'Heavy Blaster'?

Lia-nara gave a beautiful smile. A moment later, however, that smile dropped into an annoyed frown and was quickly followed by a strong punch across the dirty blonde's face with enough power to send him to the ground. Kale blinked and touched his jaw only to pull back and wince while Lia-nara turned to Shepard "So? Where to, luv?"

"Right. I can see that you two are far from civilians but what do you gain from this?"

"Aside from the feeling of accomplishment from helping people? Nothing. Is it so bad to just help those in need without any sort of payment once in a while?" The woman asked before turning to the man on the ground, who was slowly getting to his feet.

"Although." Kale grunted "It wouldn't hurt getting a few credits on the side, right? Everyone's gotta make a living, right?"

"Hmm. Good point." The Jedi replied a moment later with a shrug.

Jane sighed at this. She would be glad for the help but these two were an unknown. Aside from their names, she didn't know anything else about them. Hell, she even asked Lia-nara about Omega and she didn't even know. The Commander let out another sigh. Miranda was going to be on her case for this but she can take it up her sweet, sweet ass. Besides, Jane can tell Lia-nara really wanted to help.

"I can't really stop you if I refuse, can I? Alright, you can help."

"My thanks, Ms. Shepard." The Jedi thanked with a small bow of her head "You won't regret it."

"She's damn right, Red." Kale added as he wrapped an arm around Lia-nara's shoulders "You're gonna have the Time. Of. Your. Life." He emphasized the last four words with hip thrusts, making the Commander sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"I'm already starting to regret this."

~One Minute Later~

Kale opened the door before the Force screamed at him. He raised his hand and used the Force to redirect the rocket back towards the shooter. He then quickly dove to cover before getting a feel for the M-8 Avenger he scavenged from the dead Blood Pack Trooper. Satisfied, he peeked out just in time to see the rocket launcher wielding Vorcha's head pop, courtesy of Shepard. He spotted a second one to the far right of the balcony and saw the explosive container beside it. Kale smirked and was about to shoot it but Lia beat him to it.

Lia spotted the opportunity as soon as she saw it. Without wasting time, she quickly drew her DL-44 and fired at the explosive container before quickly holstering it again. She hoped she was fast enough that the others didn't see her do it and also hoped that the sounds of the firefight hid the noise of the blaster as well. Lia ran towards the balcony and saw the door below open before a squad of Blood Pack Troopers came out. She was soon joined by Shepard and her crew but Kale was out of sight once more. The Jedi dropped into cover before trying to sense where her partner was.

When the Vorcha stopped firing at them, Shepard rose out of cover and aimed her M-8 Avenger at the Blood Pack but saw they were too busy shooting at someone else. Below them, Kale rushed towards one of the Vorcha and punched it across the face before grabbing it's head with his hands and gave a mighty twist. He was on the move again before the body could even hit the ground. The dirty blonde seized a fallen M-23 Katana from the ground and ran towards an armored Blood Pack Trooper, bashing his shoulder on it's armored chest before using one hand to fire the shotgun pointblank at a second Vorcha. He quickly returned his focus on the armored Blood Pack Trooper and bashed it across the head with the M-23, making the Vorcha stagger. Taking out his deactivated Vibroknife, he plunged the blade deep into the Vorcha's neck. He pulled out the blade from the bleeding Vorcha and kicked it's body to the ground. He wiped the blood off with his coat before taking cover behind a pillar just as the door opened and another squad of Blood Pack rushed out.

'Damn. How many of them are there?' He thought as the Blood Pack kept him pinned behind the pillar.

Seeing his predicament, Lia let out an annoyed sigh before jumping over the balcony and landing on the floor below. Shepard watched as the woman ran towards the Blood Pack with her Carnifex raised. Cursing the fact that the two seemed intent on doing things their own way, Shepard vaulted over the balcony and landed with a roll before following after the woman. She fired her Avenger in short, controlled bursts, wishing she brought the Vindicator instead. Her instincts screamed at her and she looked up to see the Vorcha jumping over their balcony. One landed on top of her and pinned her to the ground.

"Fuck off."

She slammed her head against the Vorcha's before taking out her Predator and jamming it inside the Vorcha's mouth and pulled the trigger six times. Jane threw the body off her and moved to a crouching position but was met with the barrel of a gun, the wielder grinning wickedly at her. It's weapon suddenly flew from it's hands, stunning the both of them and making them wonder what just happened. Shepard recovered quickly and kicked the Vorcha's knee.

The Blood Pack Trooper screamed in pain as it fell to it's knees before feeling to hands on either side of it's face. Jane snapped the Vorcha's neck before focusing on the rest of the Blood Pack. More came out of the door that led to the Ventilation Control. Quickly aiming her Predator at them, she opened fire. The Blood Pack returned fire but was quickly pinned down when Miranda and Jacob joined the fight.

'Nice of you guys to show up. Fucking finally.' She thought before looking towards their other companions. Jane saw Kale grab two Avengers and stood atop of a bench. The man laughed like a maniac as he fired at the Vorcha. Of course, that was short lived since he fired the Avengers at full-auto and wasted both assault rifles' clips.

"AHAHAHAHA- aah?" Kale stopped laughing as he frantically pulled the weapons' triggers but no more slugs came out. He felt someone grab the back of his coat and pulled him to cover. He was pushed into a pillar and his head whipped to the left when an armored hand slapped him across the face. Strong hands clutched his jaw and forced him to look at two very angry, emerald green orbs.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind!? I don't know what goes on in your fucking head but you can't do Rambo shit like that! If I see you do something stupid like that again, I will cut off your dick and shove it up so far up your ass that it will go out your mouth. Understand?"

Kale simply nodded and the Commander let him go. Shaking his head with a laugh, he grabbed the discarded Avenger and unloaded the thermal clip before loading a fresh one inside. As fiery as her hair. He wondered what Shepard and Lia's opinion about open relationships. He got out from behind the pillar to see Shepard kill the last of the Vorcha. He chuckled before walking over to join her, as did Lia, Jacob and Miranda. Jane reloaded her Avenger begore facing the group.

"Alright, listen up. On the other side of this door is the environmental controls. Just go in, turn the controls back on, kill anyone who wants to stop us, administer the cure then get out. Got it?"

"Loud and clear, luv." Lia replied before checking her Heavy Pistol's ammo. She still can't believe she's using a slugthrower of all things. Kale nodded in reply before salvaging ammo from the corpses and grabbing two Avengers. He felt holes being burned on the back of his head and saw Shepard glaring at him.

"Don't even think about."

~Line Break~

CC-2868 groaned and rolled to his back before his instincts kicked in and he kip-upped, drawing his DC-15s sidearm and firing a blaster bolt that struck the beast that lunged at him right between the eyes. The body sailed past him and landed unmoving a few feet away. He didn't have time to observe his surroundings as 'slugs', of all things, whizzed past his head and he took cover behind a pillar. Will cursed himself when realized his WESTAR M-5 wasn't with him. He peeked from his cover and saw the blaster rifle was right on the spot where he woke up. Those buggers may be using slugs but those things will still tear him apart. The Clone Commander reached into his belt and grabbed a Flash Grenade before throwing it out in the middle of the room. The effect was instantaneous. As soon as the device hit the ground, it emitted a blinding flash of light and ear-ringing bang.

Will ran out of the pillar and grabbed his blaster before setting it to semi-auto. He fired with pinpoint accuracy, hitting a humanoid being right in the forehead before it could fire the rocket launcher it was aiming at him. He then turned his rifle to the other two that were still dazed and did the same. A fourth one laughed maniacally as it made it's way towards him, weapon spewing out flames. Another one was beside him, aiming another rocket launcher at the Clone Commander. Seeing this, Will quickly vaulted over a bench just in time to see the rocket sail above his head.

"You fuckwits can't aim." He muttered to himself before rising out of cover. He spotted the flamethrower and shot at it's left arm. The shot connected, and in doing so, forced it to veer left, firing it's flamethrower at the being reloading the rocket launcher. It screamed in pain as flames licked every bit of skin it had. Will turned his sights on the flamethrower again and fired two shots. This time, striking it in the neck then the head. It fell down dead and Will walked over to observe the corpses. Well, Rules of Engagement after all. Don't fire unless fired upon. They shot first.

The Clone Commander knelt down and he could see they were a rather ugly looking bunch. Rows of sharp teeth, blood red eyes, and reptilian like features. Ugly bastards the lot of them. He knelt down and examined their weapons.

"Grain-sized slugs... Clips... Still a bit warm. Venting heat perhaps?"

He stood up and walked over to a console of sorts and tried to read the words on the holograms. It wasn't Basic nor was it any language he has ever seen.

"Son of a- Where the fuck am I?" Will tried his comms to contact the rest of the team "This is Will. Does anyone read me? Burns. Holt. Mac. Do you read, over? Blasted piece of Bantha crap."

He pulled off his helmet and set it down on a table next to the terminal. At least the air was breathable. He set his blaster rifle beside the helmet and secured his DC-15s on the hip holster underneath his kama. He pulled out a Vibroknife and balanced it in his palm while trying to assess his situation. He was in some building and, judging by those large fans, inside a ventilation control room. The words on the holograms isn't any kind of language he's seen. Weapons are different and so were the ones using it. Sure there were still slugthrowers out there but they were phased out by blasters for a very long time now. He can ponder about that later, Will tried to remember how he got here in the first place.

"Okay, Will. What was the last thing you remember? Right. The base. We tried to find Kale and General Lia. We found what's left of the CC. Nothing but scorch marks and a crater. We dropped down the crater to find anything but found nothing... at least we thought it was nothing. Next thing I knew... Blank. Then here. Damn." He cursed before sheathing the Vibroknife and walked in front of the terminal, trying to see if he can decipher it. Will crossed his arms and brought a hand on his chin, scratching his beard. He heard a door open in the distance and quickly pulled out his sidearm before aiming at the door. Five individuals stepped in. All of them humanoid. But what shocked him was the two standing next to the one in the center.

"Boss? General?"

~Line Break~

Jane raised an eyebrow at what the man said. Lia and Kale then walked towards the man. The taller of the three enveloped the man in a hug while Lia smiled at the little reunion. Jane lowered her weapon and nodded for Jacob and Miranda to do the same. As the other three talked away, Shepard made her way to the terminal and applied the cure to the vents. After she was done, she noticed the helmet and weapon on the table next to her. It wasn't anything she had ever seen before and she was sure Miranda and Jacob are gonna have a field day if theu get their hands on this.

"Shepard." Lia called out "I like you to meet Will."

"Ma'am." Will saluted and Jane nodded before observing his appearance. Tan skin with two scars adorning his face. A huge one ran diagonally just above his right eyebrow, passing underneath an eyepatch, and all the way down to the left side of his jaw. A smaller one ran down the right side of his lips. He has unkempt black hair tied into a short tail and a beard. He wore a black body suit underneath a set of battle scarred white armor plates that had black designs painted on it and a small rectangular plate on his left pectoral. He wore a bandolier with a knife sheathe and what looked like a sheathed sword strapped on his back. A belt with some, what she presumed were, grenades. Attached to the belt was some kind of half skirt. The purpose of it, she didn't know but she did see a hip holster hidden under the garment with a gun likely resting in it.

"Name and Rank, soldier?"

"CC-2868 or Will.Clone Marshal Commander, ma'am."

'Accent's a little close to Miranda's but bit different. Huh. Wait, did he say... '

"Clone? You're telling me you're a clone. I find that hard to believe." She couldn't keep the skepticism off her voice.

"Believe what you will, ma'am. But I am a Clone and so are my brothers. An army of one man but the right man for the job."

The two stared each other down, neither wanting to back out.

"Why did you call her General?"

"Simple. Because she is a Jedi General. Any more questions?"

"Hmm." Jane hummed as she crossed her arms and brought a hand on her chin and looked down on the ground. Thinking on her current situation and contemplating on what to ask next. She didn't know what a Jedi was but apparently, Lia is one "Do you know where you are? How you got here?"

"Negative on both. Last thing I remember was my squad and I were searching for any signs of the Boss and General. We found nothing. Not even the remains of the building." He replied as he looked at the aforementioned individuals before turning back to Shepard "We were about to leave then everything went dark. Next thing I know, I woke up here and was immediately shot at by those ugly fuck wits."

He motioned to the dead Vorcha and Jane couldn't help but agree with him. They are ugly fuck wits. Now that she looked at it, she noticed the holes were cut clean through. Cauterized even. Eezo powered rounds can tear through you but they're still bullets. They can't cauterize something as it passes through it. She looked to another corpse and found that it was charred. Judging by the way the first corpse was facing this one, this guy got barbequed real good. You can even smell the scent of cooked shit. Yup. Just a smoking pile of shit.

"Looks like you've been busy." Jabe commented before facing the others "Mission Accomplished, everyone. Let's head back to Mordin's Clinic. Move it out, people."

~Line Break~

After recruiting Mordin, the group returned to the Normandy and Shepard immediately asked the three to follow her to the Briefing Room. Once there, she ordered EDI to tell the crew that she was not to be disturbed and have Jacob settle Mordin in the Armory. Silence fell as she sat on the holotable and crossed her arms.

"Okay. Obviously, you're not from around her so let me go straight to the point. Who are you and what are your allegiances? I'm taking a big risk bringing unknowns in my ship. Hell, Miranda's gonna have my head after this. So... Who the hell are you people?"

Silence was the answer she received and the three were sharing a silent conversation. A small nod from Kale and Lia before the woman spoke up "You already know our names but your question is who we really are."

She cleared her throat and her face turned serious.

"Knight Lia-nara Chaise of the Jedi Order and the Grand Army of the Republic." Shepard knew the woman wasn't talking about the Asari Republics "Jedi General in command of the 82nd Delta Corps and all it's subordinate units as well as my personal unit, the 28th Mechanized Infantry Company."

Will was the next to step forward before standing in parade rest.

"Designation, CC-2868. Clone Marshal Commander of the 82nd Delta Corps and Commanding Officer of the 25th Scout Ranger Regiment."

Her eyes then found themselves on Kale who had his arms crossed and neutral expression replacing his usual cocky one.

"And you?"

"Kale. I'm a merc but the Republic was gracious enough to offer me an outstanding position as the Commander of the 13th Airborne Paratrooper Brigade and the 18th Marauder Battalion under the 82nd Delta Corps."

"How'd a merc like you convince a Republic to give you that much power?" Jane questioned.

"I ran my own Private Military gig before the Clone Wars started. Did a lot of dirty work so the good 'ol Senate stays clean. I made sure to see every job through to the end. Destroyed anything that could trace us back to the client. We were one of the best in the business. We always get the job done no matter what." His eyes lost focus and the man stared blankly at the wall "But we bit off more than we can chew and it cost me everything."

Silence fell as the usually carefree man stared at nothing. His eyes were glazed over and his mouth was set in a thin line. Jane knew that look. She wore it herself after Akuze. For hours, she would stare at nothing. Relieving every moment in clear detail. How the Thresher Maws tore them apart and picked them off one by one. Hobbs. Randolph. Mendoza. Deveraux. Romero. Smith. Bernard. All dead but she was the one that survived. Jane remembered the times John had to snap her outta that funk. She was in a dark place but he was the only one willing to drag her out of it. But then Torfan came. Despite the honor of being titled as a War Hero, John never saw himself as one. He saved many lives that day but he always blamed himself for those that he had couldn't save. He confided to her that he tried to save a family. The civilians were safe but a family of three was pinned down in the street. John ran to the family but the slavers gunned down the mother and father befire he could reach them. He managed to save the boy and run back to cover. Unfortunately, a slaver fired a rocket at him. The next thing he knew, John was flying through the air and slammed into a wall. When he came to, he realized, to his horror, he was holding onto the severed arm of the boy, the rest were blown to high hell. From that moment on, as the slavers closed in on him, the Butcher of Torfan was born. When he came back to her, all she got from him was that stare. The same stare she wore after Akuze and the one currently residing on Kale's features.

"Commander."

Jane turned to Lia and the woman motioned to the far corner of the room. She nodded and the two walked over to the corner.

"I'll try and snap him out of it, Commander. But judging by that look, it might take a bit more than a minute."

"I know. I'm all too familiar with that look." Jane muttered in reply before shaking her head and looking back at Lia "If what you say is true, then this is a First Contact scenario between us and the Grand Army of the Republic but from what you said, you have no idea how you got here or how to get back. How about a deal?"

"Go on."

"Help me fight the Collectors and in return, I'll do everything I can to get you back to the Republic. You won't have to answer now but you only have until tomorrow. In the meantime, you can tour the ship but EDI will keep an eye on you. Did you hear all that EDI?"

"Affirmative, Commander." The Ship's AI replied.

"Of course, Shepard." Lia replied with a small nod before making her way back to Kale.

Jane decided it was a good time for a well-deserved nap and left the room but not before conversing with Mordin in the Armory. After that, she made her way to the elevator. Jane rossed her arms in irritation at the slow pace it was going. Couldn't Cerberus make their elevators be faster than a snail or be bothered to at least add some elevator music? Jane stepped out of the lift once it reached her Deck before making her way to the Cabin. The Commander entered her room and tapped the fish tank.

"You guys still alive? Did Kelly feed you guys already? Good."

The redhead then began taking her clothes off and grabbed a towel from the closet before entering the bathroom. Jane turned on the shower and leaned her head against the wall, letting the hot water run down her back. Memories of passionate moments shared together resurfaced in her mind and Jane willed it to stop. The feel of his hands all on her hips. His lips against hers. Each thrust reaching her core and giving a new meaning to the word 'Pleasure'. Jabe shook the memories and switched the shower settings to cold.

'Okay. Too cold. Bad idea!'

Jane turned the shower off before grabbing the towel and drying herself up. She stepped out of the bathroom and made her way to the closet before taking out a fresh tank top and panties that were too small for her. After getting dressed, she took a seat on the cahir by her desk and started reading through all the mails she got.

"Junk. Junk. Junk. Junk. Oh! Save that one. Junk. Junk. Jesus, can't Cerberus filter this shit or something?"

Her eyes slowly found themselves gazing at the set of dogtags next to the console. Jane grabbed them and felt a small tear drip down her cheek as she stared at the engravings.

SHEPARD

JOHN B.

5923-AC-2826

O POS

"Heaven sounds like a great place, huh? Just wait for me, John."

She wiped the tear away before taking off her own tags and looking at it as well.

NOVAK

JANE H.

5923-AC-2827

A POS

As she looked at her own name, her mind pondered if she should change her last name to the proper one or not. After all, Hannah all but adopted her when John introduced them. Plus, it helps when the man himself was her husband.

"I wonder if Ash kept them. I'll kick her ass if she didn't." Jane muttered to herself before yawning. She got up from her seat and made her way to the bed. She lay down on her side and closed her eyes, clutching the tags in her hands. That night, she dreamed she wasn't alone. She dreamed of a familiar set of arms wrapped around her and unconsciously let out a sob.

~Line Break~

"A tragedy, this is. Foreseen, we have not."

"We... also lost our Marshal Commander, Master Yoda."

"To the same explosion?"

CC-4629, or Rally, shook his head before replying.

"No, Master Windu. Will and two others investigated the base. The Marshal Commander checked out the crater but found no leads to what happened to the General and the Boss. Holt reported that they were about to leave but a bright flash of light appeared and when it subsided, Will was gone. I'm afraid that's all, Masters. Without the General and the Marshal Commander, the 82nd have no one to command us."

"This is troubling." Mace Windu muttered as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes "Master Yoda, what are your thoughts on this?"

"Hmm. Dead, Knight Lia-nara is not. Through the Force, felt it have we. Alive, she is. Kale as well."

"So... they're still alive?" Rally asked. Not bothering to hide the spark of hope from his voice "We can still find them."

"Indeed, Commander." Master Windu nodded "But there is also the matter of your command structure. The Council are aware of Knight Chaise's attachment to the 82nd and her soldiers. Forbidden as they are she has proven to the Council that her attachments to you and the rest of the 82nd has not impeded her ability to serve the Jedi Council and the Republic."

'Loathe as I am to admit it.' The Korun Jedi thought to himself as he stared back at the Clone Commander.

"We will have a temporary Jedi to take command of the 82nd until further notice. In the meantime, try and find that High Value Target and bring them in for questioning. They may know something about what happened to that base."

"Understood, Master Windu." Rally straightened.

"Thank you, Commander. Dismissed."

"Sir."

The Clone saluted before the feed cut. Behind him, three other Clones waited for him. Rally turned around and decided to address the situation.

"You've heard all of it, I presume?" Three nods of affirmative and the Commander continued "As of this moment, the General and the Boss are declared as M.I.A. Now to keep ourselves occupied, our mission is to find the HVT and make the bastard talk. They might know something about this bloody mess."

"So a Bag and Drag, sir?" Bugger asked as he fingered the blaster tucked in his chest holster "Where's the bloody bastard anyway?"

"We're still trying to find that out. We don't know where they are but we know someone that does." Rally turned back to the holotable and showed the model of their next target. A male Twi'lek "This gentleman here, boys, is one of the most slippery beings that were unlucky enough to be on the Republic's shit list. A professional assassin, smuggler and thief. No morals, doesn't ask questions and finishes the job as long as you can pay him. Like I said, the tailhead's slippery but with the war going on, the Republic's got bigger problems to deal with. They've sent agents but he keeps slipping through their nets."

"If he's so good, how can we make a difference?" Shifty asked the Commander.

"Good question."

The model changed into that of a large space station. Surrounding it was a fleet of Republic and Separatist ships.

"He's stuck on this resort station. As slick as he is, he can't risk going out there without getting blown to smithereens by the ships. We got brothers in the station that are on a stalemate against the Droids and the fleet asked for reinforcements."

"Who's commanding our brothers there and what unit are they in?" Spotter asked while fiddling with the scope of his RSR.

"General Secura and the 327th Star Corps."

"Well, she seems nice enough. At least, that's what Commander Will said." Bugger commented, earning a nod from Spotter and Shifty.

"I like her." The latter of the two replied.

"Good. Rudda, set a course for the station. Take us to hyperspace." Rally ordered "Zigg, get me a line to the 327th."

"Aye, sir!"

Rally placed his hands behind his back as he stared patiently ahead at the viewport, watching as the Revengeance and two Acclamator-class Assault Ships escort enter hyperspace. The holotable behind him beeped and Rally turned around to see General Secura's hologram come to life.

"Greetings, Commander Rally." The Twi'lek Jedi greeted "Thank you for answering our call for aid."

"It's no trouble at all, ma'am. We're happy to help. We also have a mission of our own, General."

"What is it, Commander?"

"We are to capture this particular smuggler named: Ojur. Greenskinned Twi'lek. Has managed to escape all attempts at capture by the Republic. He's trapped in that station and this is our only chance to take him down."

"Aside from that mission, this seems personal, Commander Rally. I can feel your determination to capture this man, Commander. Is there something else I should be informed?"

"Yes, General." Rally replied with a nod "This person may lead us to a High Value Target that may know something about the disappearance of the 82nd's General and the Boss."

"Hmm. Very well, Commander. Since you have come to our aid, the 327th will do the same. Commander Bly and I are inside the station leading the troops. We're holding up inside the resort's main building. Meet us here if you can."

"Understood, General."

"Good luck, Commander."


	3. In a Galaxy Far, Far, FAR Away Ch 3

**_A/N: Okay. So concerning Mr. or Ms. 1nt3rD1ct0r constructive criticisms or is it general comment? Whatever. I know a lot of this is completely different because that's how I wrote them. It's not in the chapter summary nor did I write it out there (Because I forgot. Sorry), it's an AU. It's a weak excuse but it is what it is. I mean, Mace Windu begrudgingly accepting a Jedi being too attached and the Jedi Order allowing a Dark Side trained Force-sensitive to live? Now that solidifies that it's an Alternate Universe. Besides, this AU is more of a Legends mixed with Canon and my own take. Take those aforementioned things together, drink a bit of Cola (2 L), jack off (JK :-D haha) and slap on some Flex Tape then Boom! You got yourself a shitty crossover._**

 ** _But in all seriousness, this is how I, emphasis on 'I', wanna write it. So Mr. or Ms. 1nt3rD1ct0r, if you don't like it, then you can stop reading and get on with your life. Don't waste it here. Lots of fish in the sea out there, friend. And by that I mean, there are lots of fics out there with better authors. Believe me. Besides, I don't wanna waste people's time. I'm not forcing anyone to stay and read. Everyone's got a choice, dude. So what's yours?_**

 ** _Anyway. Sorry about that, folks. Enough with this boring ass Author's Note. Also sorry about the long wait 'cause I'm dividing my attention on different fics and writing ones that I'm not even sure I'm gonna post. Toodles~_**

* * *

Briefing Room, Normandy SR-2

2185 CE

It took a while but Lia managed to snap Kale out of his stupor. The man blinked for a few seconds as if taking in his surroundings for the first time. He felt a soft hand on his and looked it's owner in the eyes.

"Kale, are you alright?"

"Just some old memories, Lia." He replied with a shake of his head "Nothing to be concerned about."

"It is if it made you stare at a wall for ten minutes straight." The Jedi retorted before crossing her arms and giving him a skeptical look "Now tell me."

"Hey, where's Will?"

"He's out touring the ship. Stop avoiding the subject. Tell me what's wrong."

The two stared at each other before Kale gave up and sat on the holotable at the center.

"Nine years ago. My old crew and I took a job as security for a research facility. I made the choice of not finding out more about the job and that cost me my friends. I should've digged deeper. Something went wrong and their little project got out. Killed every scientist there and only two of us were left. We managed to kill the thing by dropping the whole facility on it. We got lucky. But after that, everything was erased. The facility didn't exist. So were the personnel inside, including my team. I would've gone after them, hunt them down one by one but I was too deep in the bottle to give a damn anymore. What's the point? Killing them won't bring them back. It didn't work with Noelle, why would this be any different? So for the years to come, I was at the shithole of the Galaxy. Drinking my days to forget. Then the my friend, the one who survived with me and became rather influential in the Coruscant, saw the sorry state I was in and pulled some strings. Next thing I know, I'm commanding a regiment of Clones and working for the Republic. It's amazing how my stomach isn't bloated from all that drinking." Kale joked "Can you imagine me with a big, round belly and fighting in this thing?"

"I would pay to see that." Lia replied with a laugh before asking "What about your friend? What happened to him?"

"We... keep in contact sometimes but well... I never really paid him back the way he wanted."

"Oh, why's that?" Lia asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kale got off the table and made to stand in front of Lia before looking straight into her cyan blue eyes.

"He's not you."

Silence fell as a smile slowly made it's way to Lia's face to which Kale found himself returning. He leaned in and enveloped Lia's lips with his own to which the Jedi happily reciprocated. Kale placed his hand on the back of her head and deepened the kiss.

"I apologize but I must ask that you refrain from committing any sexual activity inside the Briefing Room and the Normandy. Thank you."

The two broke apart and Kale chuckled. Lia did as well before gently pushing herself off the blonde.

"I'll have to thank her for that. We have rules about this, remember?"

"Hey, what the Council doesn't know won't hurt 'em."

"Cheeky bastard."

"Who knew a Jedi could have such a potty mouth? You know, you're a far cry from the first time I met you. You were so prim and proper then but now... "

"After spending enough time with you... " Lia chuckled and walked out of the room, leaving Kale to see her go. The dirty blonde sighed and shook his head.

"What a woman."

~Line Break~

Armory, Normandy SR-2

"You're telling me this little thing fires lasers?"

"Charged plasma bolts, Mr. Taylor. What's the matter? Never seen a blaster before?"

Jacob chuckled as he set the pistol-sized blaster on the table. Honestly, he couldn't believe it. If he remembered correctly, the only laser-based weaponry he had ever seen was from the videos he saw about Sovereign before the Citadel decided to cover it up as a Geth ship. If what Will says is true, then this thing can surpass Kinetic Barriers with ease. Oh, what he would give to have one of these babies.

Will let out a small laugh as he holstered the DC-15s sidearm. He liked the man. Better than that woman at least. First chance she got, the ship's XO cornered him and wanted him to hand over his weapons. She tried to have some grunts to detain him but... Well, let's just say he showed them to never mess with a Clone Commander. After all, they received ARC training from Alpha-17. As Jacob moved on to make his routine check-up of the team's weapons, he couldn't help but ask about something.

"Will, I gotta ask. How'd you get those scars?"

"Ah. Some bugs with knives tried to cut my throat open. Snatched off my helmet and decided to play with their victim. Cut me up and took my eye too. Lucky for me that a Jedi was close by. Heh, and all that happened on my first deployment."

"What was it like?"

"It was hot. The sun was bearing down on us and there was sand everywhere. Sand, sand, and even more sand. Then a damn sandstorm hit us too. Even with the helmet's visor, we couldn't really see where they were. The only thing we managed to see were blue and red blaster bolts passing by or whizzing past our heads. That's how the bugs got me." The scarred, one-eyed Clone took out his Vibroknife and began playing with it, doing several tricks that impressed the man before him. "We've been trained for all kinds of situations but it never really prepared us for the real thing. For all the screams and blood and death. I was amazed we even lasted the first hour."

"How long has it passed since then?"

"That was two and a half years ago. A lot has happened during the war. We lose hundreds of brothers everyday and hundreds of shinies were put in the grinder to replace them."

"Sounds rough."

"You have no idea."

The door to the Armory opened and Will turned his gaze to the newcomer only to glare his remaining eye. The newcomer glared back and the two stared each other down.

"Ms. Lawson."

"CC-2868."

Will's eyes narrowed further. He didn't recall telling her his number.

"I should have you sent to the brig for what you've done."

"Woah. Wait a second, Miranda. What did he do to piss you off that much?" Jacob asked as he made a calming gesture.

The raven haired beauty glared once more at the Clone Marshal Commander before turning to Jacob.

"This man hospitalized two Cerberus personnel."

"After you told them to apprehend me, strip me of my weapons and armor. What did you think I would do? Lay down like a dog and have you freely confiscate Republic property? I may not know where in the Galaxy I am but I'm still a soldier of the Republic. Any further attempts will be met with lethal force. Besides, the Boss and the General won't like it if you hurt one of their boys."

Silence fell on the Armory as the two stared each other down. Will still had the Vibroknife in his left hand while his right was slowly inching towards his sidearm. If he was gonna do this, he had to be fast. The woman looked like she wasn't reaching for any sort of weapon so he had to guess she was going to use her 'Biotics'. Before things could escalate, Mordin passed by and gave the two a look before his eyes landed on Will, making his first proper observation.

"Hmm. Weapons and armor of unknown origin." The Professor began muttering to himself as he began circling the Clone much to his confusion. After all, he didn't have a translator so all he could hear were a bunch of gibberish "Markings doesn't suggest Blue Suns, Eclipse or Blood Pack allegiance. Small mercenary company perhaps?"

"Uh, mind telling me what the pincer head's talking about?"

Will turned his eyes to Jacob and the Cerberus Soldier replied.

"The Professor's curious about your weapons and armor. He's wondering if you're part of a small mercenary company too."

"Negative. I'm not part of any mercenary company, Professor. I am a Clone Marshal Commander of the 82nd Delta Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic to which I proudly serve."

"Isn't that a mouthful, Will."

The four turned to the door to see Lia enter the Armory. Will immediately straightened and saluted the woman to which she nodded in dismissal. Miranda saw from the corner of her eye that Jacob subconsciously straightened as well.

"General." Will greeted "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to see if you were making friends." Lia joked.

"I would appreciate if you didn't talk to me like a youngling, General."

"If I recall, you're only thirteen years old."

This shocked the other occupants of the room. Mordin more so than the others.

"Amazing. Cloning. Accelerated growth. Subject appears to be in standard human forties. But what is the need for accelerated growth? Less time for replenish troops? More troops produced within half the tim needed for humans to grow. Yes, yes, yes... "

The others watched the Salarian mutter to himself while pacing around the room. It was better to let the Professor let it out of his system now. Lia slightly tilted her head in confusion before turning to Jacob.

"I don't believe we had properly introduced ourselves, yet."

"Uh, no, no we hadn't." Jacob shook himself out of his stupor before introducing himself "Armory Chief Jacob Taylor."

"Jedi General Lia-nara Chaise."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"At ease, soldier. I'm not your C.O." Lia teased before turning to Miranda "And you, my dear? Can you give me a name for that face?"

"Miranda Lawson. The Normandy's XO."

'At least she's polite. When needed.' The Jedi thought to herself before turning back to Will "I have something to discuss with you in private. I've already informed Kale on the way here."

"Where's the Boss, ma'am?"

"He said he wanted to check the rest of the ship out and will support whatever decison we make. Follow me, Commander. Oh, and let's see if we can find you a translator along the way."

~Line Break~

Starboard Cargo Area, Normandy SR-2

"So there I was, face-to-face with a Bull Rancor. I looked in it's eyes and saw the hunger in them. It's mouth was hanging open and I could see it salivating as it stated at me. When I saw that, I came to the conclusion... I looked delicious."

Zaeed Massani chuckled as he listened from his spot on the wall. He liked this guy. Sure the man just came in Engineering and started asking around. Zaeed didn't pay him mind until the man decided to ask about Jessie. It then went on from one story after another, the two of them exchanging tales of their mercenary endeavors. Still, Zaeed didn't know what most of the things the guy was talking about but one look in the man's eyes told him it was all true even if he did think the man was insane.

"Big bastard grabbed me and chucked me inside it's mouth. Ha! Too bad for him, I don't go down easy. Stopped myself from getting chewed up. Held it's jaws open with my bare hands before throwing my pack filled with Thermal Detonators down it's throat. After that... let's just say I've been trying to clean all the blood and guts off my armor for weeks."

The old mercenary let out a hearty laugh at that. Crazy really is the word to describe this man. That and lunatic.

"I presume you managed to clean it then?"

Zaeed turned to the Turian sitting next to Gesark's helmet. In the middle of one of his stories, the Turian, Garrus, dropped by to meet Kale before taking a seat and joining in as well. The old mercenary was curious on what sort of shit Archangel dealt with in Omega.

"Oh, I did. But the smell stayed for another week. Couldn't take it anymore and had to go on contracts wearing less gear than what I usually go with. That got me a shrapnel lodged in my lung after a tank exploded next to me. Fortunately, got myself extracted and treated before I could bleed out but not before finishing my contract." He then turned to the Turian "Hey, Garrus. I forgot to ask. How'd you get your face messed up like that?"

"I took a missile to the face." The Turian deadpanned.

"Damn. I'm surprised you lived through that."

"A missile to the face? Bah. I've seen worse. Fuck. I've been through worse."

"Oh." Garrus began, clearly intrigued "Do tell."

"It was back when I was still with the Blue Suns. You see... "

~Line Break~

Venator-class Star Destroyer 'The Revengeance'

CC-4629 'Rally'

Looking down at the hologram of the station and the surrounding area. Rally had to admit, he didn't thought that the battle was this large. He thought the interior of the station was the battlefield, not the moon it was sitting and was supposed to be orbiting. On the trip to the station, the 327th Star Corps. managed to commandeer the station's controls and had it land on the moon, Kamaru VI, where the rest of the 327th and the CIS detachment battled it out. Unfortunately, the station itself was contested. Half of it was under Republic control while the other was under Separatist control.

"Sir, transmission from Commander Merrick."

"Merrick?"

'Now what does that jarhead want?'

"Patch it through."

The hologram of the battlefield was replaced with that of a Clone Trooper who had his helmet off. The Clone wore a Galactic Marine armor set but had the number 32 painted on the area above the right breast. Mirroring Rally's own number 18 on the same spot. On the Clone's right shoulder armor was a painting of a diamond with a skull in the center. The Clone gave Rally a cocky smirk and gave him a two-finger salute.

"Good to see you, Rally. It's been a while, brother."

"Any particular reason you called Merrick? My boys and I are about to be deployed so you better make this quick."

"Agreed." Merrick turned serious "We heard what happened about the General and the Boss. We also got word that you're on a mission to bring the guy that knows what happened to them in."

"We don't know the guy but we know someone who does. Our mission is to capture a Twi'lek smuggler named Ojur. He knows the person that will give us answers on what happened to the General and the Boss. He's our top priority but that doesn't mean we won't help General Secura and 327th along the way. I was thinking of lending her the 18th Battalion's Mechanized Infantry Company and Support Company."

"But isn't that your Company? Shouldn't you be the one leading them?"

"I can issue orders while I'm inside the station. Captain Kert can handle it from there."

"But you don't like doing that. You want to be there and leading them instead."

"That is true." Rally accepted "But my mission is to bring Ojur back here for interrogation."

"Alright, brother. How about this. You go down there and fight with Kert while me and my boys will handle the ones inside."

"Your boys?"

"Will be with you shortly."

Rally furrowed his brow in confusion befire looking out the Revengeance's viewport. A minute later, a Venator came out of hyperspace. This made the Commander shake his head in amusement before turning back to Merrick.

"I guess I'll leave the inside to you. Good luck, brother. Oh. And remember, we need him alive."

"I'll give him back to you breathing."

The line was cut and Rally grunted before making his way out of the bridge. He took the elevator to the armory and grabbed himself a DC-15 Blaster Rifle, a couple of Thermal Detonators and Flash Grenades, and a DC-17 Hand Blaster. With his equipment secured, Rally mafe his way to the hangar. Once he reached the hangar, the place was full of Clones from B Company and D Company. All waiting for the Commander to give the order to attack. Rally met up with his squad and climbed up the side of a TX-130 tank.

"Alright, men. Listen up! As you may have heard, the General, the Boss and Commander Will have vanished. For the lack of better term. They're not dead but someone will be if they don't tell us what happened to our Commanding Officers. Now my mission was supposed to get inside the station. Capture and extract our HVT, Ojur. Now this Twi'lek knows the guy who knows what happened to the General. But with the arrival of the 32nd Marine Regiment, the plan has changed. B Company Mechanized Infantry and D Company Support will be coordinating with the 327th Star Corps. led by Jedi General Aayla Secura with battling the Seppies outside the station. B Company will be dropping off AT-TEs down there while D Company will set up Artilleries behind our line. We're counting on Captain Kert and his Company to provide Artillery Overwatch while we Mechanized boys are gonna crush and scrap these clankers, am I right?"

"YEAH!"

"That's what I like to hear. Captain Kert." Rally turned to the mentioned Clone who straightened "Blow those clankers sky high."

"With pleasure, sir."

"Good. Alright, men. Lock and load."

Rally jumped off the tank and made his way to a Laarty piloted by Burnside's temporary replacement, Elzee. Rally's squad and ten more Clone Troopers followed the Commander in the Laarty.

"Elzee, take us away."

"Copy that, sir. Be advised, we are receiving warnings from the 327th that the Seppies got flaks. Looks like they were prepared for an air assault, sir."

"Doesn't matter, Elzee. Just get us safely to the ground." Rally replied as he did a last minute weapon check.

"Understood, sir."

The Laarty left the Revengeance's hangar and was soon followed by dozens more, carrying troops, AT-TEs, AT-RTs, TX-130s and the like. The LAATs reached the moon and pilots quickly picked up on a sudden change.

"Sir, it looks like the whole moon is shielded. We just passed through it. Fighting on the groundside suggests it has artificial gravity and oxygen. The resort station was orbiting this moon? The owner's of the resort must own this one as well."

"I don't like rich people." Bugger stated as he hefted the Z-6 over his shoulder "Always look down on you like your trash or rubbing the fact that they're rich in your face."

"Not all of them are like that, Bug." Spotter argued "I met quite a few who are actually nice."

"I can never understand how you meet these people, Spot."

"It pays to be nice to the ladies on shore leave, brother. You'd be surprised on how many women would help a 'poor soldier' out."

"Quiet that up, boys. We're almost there."

The gunship was engulfed in silence while their ARF Trooper, Franc, climbed up the AT-RT. The transport shuddered as a flakburst exploded near the LAAT before it opened it's rear ramp to drop the AT-RT and landing to release the Troopers. Rally waited for the lights to go from red to green and for the doors to slide open. A second later, the lights turned green.

'Okay. Here we go.'

The Clone Commander thought to himself before jumping out the transport. He raised his blaster rifle and fired a shot that struck a B1 Battle Droid in the head. The Commander ran towards the droids while firing his weapon.

"For the Republic!"

The Clones from B Company let out a battle cry and charged. Transport after transport touched down and released more troops while others dropped down AT-TEs who proceeded to fire their Mass Driver Cannon at the mass of droids. The Clones from the 327th watched as Rally passed them by.

"Come on, boys. Scrap these damned clankers. For the Republic!"

Seeing him shoot and lead the charge encouraged the Troopers to rise from their cover and follow after the Commander. Shooting down droids ranging from B1s to Droidekas. If you asked them, it was like the Commander had an aura around him that just made them feel alive. Unstoppable. Even when they got hit, they still feel the need to keep going. Keep fighting. There was a reason why they called him Rally after all.

~Line Break~

Mess Hall, Normandy SR-2

2185 CE

"So we either help them and they help us in return or we don't and we're left to fend for our own in a galaxy we don't know."

Will hummed in thought as he assessed the situation they were in. In one hand, they could help but doing so would mean they were meddling with the affairs of a different galaxy. But from what the General has gathered, they're job is supposed to be kept in the down low. They could leave too but what can they do in a place so unknown. Will grimaced at that. He didn't like the unknown. Too many variables. But at least if they joined, he still gets to shoot something. Though, Blaster ammo would be a problem. Unless they have Tibanna Gas in this galaxy, he'll have to resort to using Slugthrowers. He just hoped they did.

"I see no other way, General. We can't do anything in a galaxy we don't know anything about. It's government, culture, credits, military power and the like. Also, we don't have a clue on how we got here. Let alone, how to get back."

"But Commander Shepard doesn't know either but why should we fight with her, Commander?"

Will shrugged and took out his sidearm and began spinning it.

"We got nothing better to do, General. Might as well help this place with their 'Collector' problem." The Clone Commander then smirked at the Jedi "Besides, I've figured you've already made up your mind, ma'am."

"You got me. Guilty as charged." Lia-nara replied as she raised her hands in mock surrender with a smirk on her face.

Will chuckled before he went back to eating 'Spaghetti'. He gave a satisfied hum after he swallowed before looking back at the Jedi.

"At least the food's better than the rations back home. Why don't the ships have Mess Sergeants, General?"

"Probably because your genetic donor's more interested killing and money than the culinary arts. Besides, I think the Republic is too cheap when it comes to soldier comforts, yes?"

"They say the refreshers in Outpost 7 are still broken. The boys there were starting to stink."

Lia-nara chuckled and took a small bite from her 'Cheesecake'. The two continued to eat in silence before Kale decided to join them with a plate of 'Cheeseburger'.

"I'm thinking when we get back, we could invest in starting Canteens serving these delicacies. What do you think?"

"And who's going to cook it? You? Do you even know how to make it?"

Kale shrugged and bit into his burger, savoring the taste before swallowing "It can't be that hard."

"That's what you said when you handled that holoprojector." Lia-nara replied with mirth in her voice.

"Hey! It's not my fault they put in so many buttons. Why does it even have buttons anyway?"

The three laughed at the old memory before falling into a comfortable silence. Once they were done eating, Kale's demeanor changed and he looked Lia in the eye.

"So what's the plan, Lia?"

The Jedi gently wiped her mouth with a napkin the Mess Sergeant kindly offered them before replying.

"We help Commander Shepard with her mission against these Collectors abd she helps us in return. Blaster ammo will be scarce so I suggest we familiarize ourselves with these Slugthrowers."

"We also have to keep an eye out on our equipment." Will added "Miss Lawson didn't even tried to be subtle when she wanted to take my weapons from me."

"From what I've gathered in this 'Extranet', this galaxy's main firearms are Slugthrowers. They got GARDIAN lasers though."

"GARDIAN?"

"General Area Defense Integrated Anti-spacecraft Network. It's an Auto-defense system. Guy behind the gun doesn't need to do much but arm it. A computer does all the work." Kale explained.

"Anyway to shut those things down?" Will asked.

"We could always board the ship, take out the system's controls, destroy the ship's shield generator, life support system and engines then get out. Always worked back home." Kale replied.

"Easier said than done." Lia retorted "There's the crew and the soldiers inside to worry about. We won't last long if they swarm us."

"But we've done it before."

"In a ship we know the schematics and layout. A Collector ship? We don't even know what it looks like. Let alone if there's a way we can board it without getting shot down immediately."

"Hmm. Good point." Kale muttered and the three went deaf to the world as they thought of plans and such about Collector encounters and other variables. Unbeknownst to the bug under the table and the voluptuous woman listening from her office.

~Line Break~

Captain's Cabin, Normandy SR-2

Jane groggily opened her eyes and lazily sat up. She ran a hand through her blood-red hair before wiping the sweat off her forehead. Her dreams left her both hot and sad. It sucked but she just have to live with it... again. A part of her hated Miranda and Cerberus. When she died, she hoped to see John again but no. Cerberus just had to pick up her burnt corpse and resurrect it to a life she didn't even want to live anymore. Sure it's good to see all her friends again and meet new people but she was content in death. She didn't want to save the galaxy. Leave it to someone else. It wasn't her problem anymore... until now that is. Besides, John would've done it regardless. He's just nice that way. Too fucking nice. Even for a hardened Marine.

Sighing, Jane grabbed the knife and Heavy Pistol under her pillow before reaching under the other pillow and counted the Flash Grenades. She gave a satisfied hum before getting off the bed and lifting the mattress a bit to make sure the Katana Shotgun was still there. She nodded to herself before lowering the mattress and dropping to the floor to do her routine morning workout. After bringing her back to life, her arms were a little skinnier than she remembered but at least her legs were still the way she remembered them. Toned and can crush a sparrow's egg between her thighs. But even so, she wasn't content with that. She needed her guns back. And her abs. Can't forget about those. She always did say as a specimen, she was intimidating. Mhmm. Of course, John would simply laugh at that and she would join him.

'Get a grip, woman. It's already over and done. You're alive. He's not. Get over it. You still got your whole lif- whole SECOND life ahead of you. Plenty of fish in the sea. Space. Whatever.'

Jane went on her workout without thinking about the past and John before deciding to take a shower when she began to smell like dead fish. She grabbed a towel, a fresh set of underwear and black shirt before heading to the shower.

"Wait!"

The redhead quickly rushed to her aquarium and fed the fish. Cooing like a little girl before heading back to the shower. At least her fishies won't leave her.

One quick shower and a change of clothes later, Jane sat on her desk and opened it's drawer before pulling out a sketchpad and pencil. It was old sure but like they say, you can't beat the classics. She tapped the pencil on the desk as she thought about what she would draw. She could feel the light bulb light up above her head and began vigorously drawing on the sketchpad, unconsciously sticking out her tongue in concentration. Deaf to the world around her. It wasn't until she was done did she realize that EDI was calling her.

"Oh. Hey, EDI. You need something?"

"There's an ongoing brawl at the Shuttle Bay. Five of our security personnel are trying to 'Teach' Clone Marshal Commander Will 'a lesson'. I believe that is a human expression meaning that they intend to assault the Commander."

"Why are you telling me this now!?"

"Because you were too distracted, Commander. And you didn't respond to my calls."

Unfortunately, Jane didn't here any of that as she ran to the elevator and frantically pressed the button for the Deck 5.

"Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. I will not be branded as a bad host because of these Cerberus idiots! Stupid piece of fucking shit. Move faster!"

Jane kicked the wall of the elevator in frustration before crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. The elevator reached Deck 5 and Jane quickly ran to see Will surrounded by five Cerberus security guards. To the side, Kale and Lia-nara stood with in differing poses. Kale had his arms behind his head and looked like he was enjoying the show. Lia had her arms crossed and was watching the fight with a look of disinterest. Will himself had a challenging look in his face, daring the four men to come at him.

"Come on. Is that all you got? What kind of poor excuse of security guards are you? Face me!"

One ran at the Clone and aimed a right hook to his head only for will to duck underneath the arm and elbow the man in the back before putting him on a sleeper hold and slamming him to the ground. It shocked Jane how fast the scarred Clone was. His armor made it look like it was heavy yet he didn't seem to have trouble moving with it. Especially with that skirt. A second guard managed to punch the Clone while his back was turned. Will sneered before turning around and sent an uppercut that knocked the man to his back. The Clone was on him in an instant and sent one punch that knocked the secind guard out. The third guard wrapped his arms around Will's neck in a sleeper hold but the Clone was quick to retaliate by elbowing him twice in the gut, forcing the guard to let him go before Will kneed the guard in the same spot three times before turning the guard around and wrapping his arms around the guard's midsection. He lifted him up and arched his back, releasing the guard halfway and threw the poor man on his back. The fourth guard ran at Will, screaming like an idiot, before the Clone casually moved to the side and held out his leg. Effectively tripping the guard before Will grabbed the back of the man's head and slammed him down on the ground hard. Knocking the man out. The Clone rose from the ground and faced the final guard who wisely stayed back and away from the fight. The woman cowered when she met Will's eyes and held her hands up in surrender.

"Wait! Please don't hurt me. I give up. I won't bother you."

"Wise decision." Will replied before spotting Jane and immediately straightened.

"Attention, Commander on deck!"

The only one who stood in attention was the last guard and Jane could see the woman was still shaking. Kale and Lia simply turned their head to look at her. The dirty blonde gave a simple wave while Lia nodded in greeting.

"At ease." Jane dismissed before looking at the unconscious bodies of the four guards then turning to Will "Might telling me what happened here, soldier?"

"They struck first, ma'am. I simply acted on self-defense. They seem to be friends of the first two that Miss Lawson ordered to confiscate my weapons and equipment. I guess they wanted to get revenge for what I did. But as you can see." He motioned his head towards the four before looking back at Jane "It didn't work out so well for them. Well, except for her."

Jane sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She's gonna have a few words with Miranda after what she just tried to pull. Actually, why wasn't she more subtle with that. Miranda could've confiscated them covertly but she had two guards do it instead. Well, there's time for that later.

"I can see that. I'm sorry for letting this happen, Will. I hope this doesn't affect your decision."

"Negative, Commander. General Lia-nara has already made her choice and I support her decision, ma'am."

"Oh, that's a relief." Jane smiled before turning to the last guard. She looked at the name stitched on the guard's uniform: B. Kendall "Alright, Kendall. Get a medic team down here to bring these idiots to Dr. Chakwas. Hmm. I can't really punish you since you actually made a smart call and didn't fight Commander Will."

Jane's eyes then turned to the Clone and his companions before snapping her finger as the idea came to her "You'll be our Grand Army of the Republic group's assistant. Understand?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

The redhead smirked and crossed her arms in satisfaction.

"While you go that, these squids will be spending time in the brig after Dr. Chakwas is done with them. Dismissed."

Kendall saluted before leaving as fast as she could to call the medic team. Jane watched the woman go before turning ti the Republic trio.

"Sorry for all this goddamn mess. I'll have a serious talk with my XO. I can promise you that."

"No need for that, Red." Kale replied. Using the cliché nickname much to her chagrin "Will needed a good fight after all. Besides, what better way to acquaint our little group to yours by using the universal language?"

"And what's that?"

"Fighting."

Jane open her mouth to retort but looked up in thought before shrugging "Good point. Well, might as well. Get this out of the way now. General Chaise, what's your decision?"

"We'll gladly fight alongside you and put an end to this Collector threat. In exchange for helping us get back to our galaxy, that is." The Jedi answered with a calming smile "And as I Jedi, I can't let something like this go. I've been taught to help people, Commander. All you have to do is ask."

"Thank you."

Jane found herself returning the smile. Kale smirked before crossing his arms.

"Well, now that's it decided. I have to ask." The man looked down and gave an appreciative nod "Do you really walk around and command this ship with no pants on?"

Jane's eyes widened before looking down to find that she indeed was not wearing pants. Luckily, she was wearing her PT shorts and not one of her skimpy underwear. No wonder her legs were freezing. She let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Uh, whoops. Forgot about that one."

Lia smirked and crossed her arms while her finger touched her cheek.

"Well. I think I speak for the both of us and say that you, my dear, have a very nice, and rather toned, pair of legs." The Jedi laughed and the man next to her did as well "Oh, I could never understand how Master Kenobi could effortlessly flirt like he does."

"Oh. Believe me. I was questioning things about myself when I met the guy. Charming. And a nicely trimmed beard too."

Jane watched the two with amusement before shaking her head and heading for the elevator. She still needs to talk to Miranda about what happened. She works with Cerberus and the Illusive Man. Not wirking FOR them. Despite that logo on the side of the ship, which admittedly should be removed as to not gain attention to themselves, this was still HER ship. She'll remind Little Miss Perfect of that. And not even her boobs or hourglass figure can distract her from that.

~Line Break~

Miranda stared intently at the screen as she watched the recording of the Shuttle Bay fight. CC-2868 was indeed skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well as skilled in firearms from what she gathered from the dead Vorcha in the environmental control room back in Omega.

"An army of one man but the right one for the job."

Her thoughts went through Cerberus' attempt in cloning Shepard, or Novak, before she was pulled from the project and moved to Lazarus. She idly wondered what happened to that but she was disturbed from her thoughts when a pantsless Jane stomped into her office. Miranda sighed and knew this was coming. Jane leaned on the wall and crossed her arms, her features set in a neutral expression.

"You know why I'm here?"

"I do."

"So then explain to me why you tried to pull that bullshit to Will."

"Commander, you have seen his weapons and what it can do. If Cerberus can reverse engineer it, think of the benefits we can give to Humanity. Weapons against the Collectors. Against the Rea- "

She was cut off when Jane slammed her fist on the table. Hard enough to leave a dent on the impact site. Before she knew it, the redhead grabbed her by the collar and pulled her close and stared straight into angry, emerald eyes that were slightly glowing red.

"You listen to me and you listen good. The next time I catch you pulling shit like that, I'm gonna shove my foot so far up your pretty little ass and leave it there until you shit it out. I don't care how powerful Cerberus thinks it is but I am not risking valuable allies against the Collectors, maybe even the Reapers, because your little terrorist organization thinks it can fuck over whoever it wants."

Miranda opened her mouth to deny the terrorist organization accusation but Jane didn't let her.

"News flash! Your little black ops organization isn't for the betterment of Humanity. Your Illusive Fuckboy is nothing more than a limpdick, son of a bitch that wants power and control over the whole galaxy all to himself. You? Nothing more than a pretty puppet. All that preaching about the betterment of Humanity? It's nothing more than a boldfaced lie. Fuck. Even a blindman can see that. Also, need I remind you that this is MY ship. If I have to kill every single Cerberus Personnel here just to remind you of that, then I'll do it. I don't work for your piece of shit outfit or your limpdicked retard of a boss. I only did this because the Council were too busy twiddling with their dicks to care about the Collectors AND the Reapers. Make no mistake, I'm not one of the Illusive Man's pawns. When all this is over, I'll enjoy putting a bullet in his fucking head. So if you have any common sense in you, don't cross me. Understand?"

Miranda stared defiant but begrudgingly relented. Jane smirked before letting Miranda go, her eyes going back to their normal hue before turning on her heel and leaving but before she did, Jane looked over her shoulder.

"Oh, and I want you to destroy all the bugs around them, in their person and this whole goddamn ship. Am I clear?"

Her emerald green eyes flashed red for a second before it returned to normal.

"Crystal."

"Good."

Without another word, Jane left. Leaving Miranda to wonder if they should've brought back John Shepard and not Jane Novak. Well, at least she knows that Jane is set on taking out the Collectors. But she did have to think of ways of taking down the Commander in the end. After all, she just admitted to being an enemy of Cerberus. And with that, Miranda began to scheme.

~Line Break~

Jane smiled as she left Miranda's office, not caring about the looks the crew were giving her as she passed by. Fuck modesty. If she wanted to walk around with just a shirt and underwear around the Normandy then she damn well will.

"Um, Commander. You do realize you're not wearing any pants, right?"

"I do, Miss Chambers. And I don't care."

"Of course, Commander. Just... making sure."

Jane laughed to herself before making her way back to her cabin. She made it to the elevator and pressed the button for Deck 1. Sucks to be Miranda but great to Jane. When she finally reached her deck, Jane went straight for her cabin and jumped on the bed. Fuck Miranda, in the non-sexual sense. Actually, fuck her in the sexual sense too. She wondered if John's up for a three- oh. Right.

"Damn it. You're making this whole moving on thing so fucking hard, John. So. Fucking. Hard."

Jane sighed and brought her knees to her chest, staring at the blankly at blankets as she tried to get the man out of her head but for the second life of her, she couldn't.

~Line Break~

Kamaru VI, Lanima Resort Station

CC-02-1642 'Merrick'

1st Marine Raider Bn., 32nd Marine Regiment, 82nd Delta Corps.

Merrick watched the battle outside the station from where he was sitting in the Laarty. When B Company touched down, Rally, like his namesake, rallied the Troopers from both the 327th and the 18th and spearheaded the charge. Droids and Troopers fell in the initial clash before everything became a mess and everyone just started shooting in front of them, hoping to hit something and praying it wasn't a brother they just hit. While all this was going on, Merrick and his Battalion were heading inside the station to support the ongoing battle inside. General Secura contacted him and told him to link up with her in the Center Dome. She also told them to take the hangar in the East Dome. With the Center, East and Southern Dome in their control, all that's left was the North and West. Their target, however, just had to relocate to the West Dome where the Seppies' heavily guarded Command Post was located. It made their job harder after hearing about that but the Marine Raiders were looking for a challenge... and they found one.

"Commander, we're approaching the hangar."

"Good. Get us down there."

"Sir, incoming transmission from General Secura."

"Patch her through."

Merrick waited for a few seconds before the General's voice sounded from his wrist com.

"Commander Merrick *grunt* we have a situation in the hangar." This was followed by the sound of a lightsaber cutting through something and the screams of a B1 Battle Droid "We've engaged Separatist forces in the East Hangar. I don't know how but they managed to slip past our watch. We're holding them off for now. Expect a fight when you get down here, Commander."

"Understood, General." Merrick lowered his arm and faced the other Marines in the Laarty "You heard the lady, boys. Landing Zone's gonna be hot when we get there so ready your weapons and prepare to scrap some clankers."

"Sir yes sir!"

"That's more like it."

The Marines readied their weapons. Standard DC-15 Blaster Rifles, DC-15A Carbines and RPS-6 Rocket Launchers. Merrick himself carried a DC-15A Balster Carbine with an unfolded stock and a RPS-6 Rocket Launcher. They also came equipped with DC-17 Hand Blasters on the hip holsters strapped on their left leg. The 1st Marine Raider Battalion wore the standard Galactic Marines Armor but was a faded Jungle Green in color and had desert camouflaged helmets. Their right shoulder piece had the unit's logo painted on it. A red diamond with a skull at the center. A Vibroknife was resting in a sheathe attached to their right boot. They also wore packs that carried a basic medpac, Thermal Detonators, rations, ans reserve ammunition. Suddenly, the Laarty shuddered and the Marines could hear the blaster bolts hitting the doors before the lights inside turned green. The door slid open and the Marine Raiders jumped out. Blue blaster bolts sailing through the air as they fired back at the droids in the hangar.

"Go! Go! Go! Move it, Marines!"

Three Marines rolled towards a set of crates, which acted as cover, and quickly threw Thermal Detonators at a column of droids at the end of the roll. One of the Marines got shot in the chest and the Marine next to him pulled him behind cover before assessing the damage. Merrick slid towards cover before scanning the area for General Secura. He spotted the Jedi General just as she cut through a squad of Battle Droids with her lightsabers. One blue and the other green. (A/N: Anybody else remember Battlefront 2 (2005)?) She cut the last droid in half before backflipping high in the air as a Droideka tried to run her over. She landed to a crouch and held out her hand before using the Force to pull the Droideka towards her. She rose from her feet and spun on her heel, holding out her lightsabers and cutting the Droideka in two as it sailed in the air. A blaster bolt whizzed past her head and the Rutian Twi'lek looked to the shooter only to see Commander Merrick lower his Blaster Carbine and walk towards her. Aayla composed herself before deactivating her lightsabers to greet the Commander.

"Commander Merrick, I presume."

"Yes, ma'am. Designation CC-02-1642. Commander Merrick, reporting for duty."

The Clone saluted and Aayla nodded for him to lower his arm.

"I'm glad to see you, Commander. Though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"No problem, General. The boys needed to stretch their legs anyway. Now, how can we help?"

"I appreciate the help, Commander." Aayla then pointed at the far side of the hangar "While waiting for you to arrive, one of my men spotted a breach on the wall over there. That's how the droids managed to slip past our defenses. I need your help in pushing the droids back until we find a way to seal that breach."

"Understood, General. We won't let you down." Merrick then radioed his Battalion "Attention Marine Raiders. New orders received. Push these clankers back to the breach on the far side of the hangar. Scrap 'em if you see 'em. Get to it, Marines!"

"General Secura!"

The two turned to see one of the 327th Troopers, distinguishable by the tan kamas, yellow pauldron and decals.

"AATs were spotted entering through the breach."

Merrick was quick to take action.

"All units, be advise. AATs have entered the playing field. Additional mission parameters. Take out those tanks before the droids get a chance to recover."

Merrick lowered his arm and looked to the far side of the hangar to see four AATs forming a line before opening fire on Republic forces. A Marine Raider duo fired their rockets at one tank but only managed to damage it and not destroy it. The AAT turned it's sights on them and the two bugged out before it fired it's main gun at them. Aayla watched along with the Commander before hearing loud noises behind her. She turned around and saw more LAATs landing and dropping off additional Marine Raider reinforcements. She crossed her arms and hummed in approval. With the amount of reinforcements coming in, they can take this station from Separatist hands soon.


End file.
